Hockey type blade

ABSTRACT

A hockey type blade for playing with a ball. The blade is bent at 180* to form a U-shaped enclosure with an arched cut-out part along the lower edge of the forward portion thereof.

o *1 Unlted States Patent 1 1 1 1 I I 3,844,555

Tremblay Oct. 29, 1974 [54] HOCKEY TYPE BLADE FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS Inventor: Dalfiel Tremblay, 8521 4,291 2/1896 Great Britain 273/78 dA gn n, -L n r Mon r l, 646,942 8/1962 Canada 273/78 Quebec, Canada [2 Filed: p 3, 1973 Primary Examiner-Richard J. Apley [21] APP! NO; 353,333 Attorney, Agent, or FirmRoland L. Morneau [52] US. Cl 273/67 A 57 ABSTRACT [51] Int. Cl A63b 59/12 [58] Field of Search 273/67 R, 67 A, 77 R, 78, A hockey type blade for playing with a ball. The blade 273/167 R, 167 A, 174, 96 D, 129 is bent at 180 to form a U-shaped enclosure with an arched cut-out part along the lower edge of the for- [56] References Cited ward portion thereof.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,702,702 11/1972 1101111 273/96 D 5 Chums 13 Drawmg F'gures PAIENIEMBI 29 mm $844555 SHEEI 20? 2 1 HOCKEY TYPE BLADE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hockey type blade and in particular to a blade generally forming a horizontal U-shaped enclosure for playing with a 'ball.

2. Description of the Prior Art The usual type of hockey blade is flat or slightly curved to push or shoot a puck, that is, a sliding article which is not contemplated for rolling.

Two other varieties of hockey sticks are found in Canadian Pat.: Nos. 909,8l4 issued to A. Saytar on Sept. 12 1972 and 82,528 issued to 1. Minor, on Aug. 18 I903. These two patents disclose a blade "having a small curved recess in'a substantially flat bladefThe two US. Pat. Nos. 2,935,323 and 2,826,417 issued respectively to R. T. Cumming on May 3 1960 and to M. A. Marcoccio on Mar. II, 1958 disclose stick games to be played with a ball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a hockey type blade adapted to be connected to a hockey stick handle for playing with a ball according to rules related to ordinary hockey games.

The new blade is a flat elongated piece of material positioned on its long edge and bent along a vertieal axis, in a horizontal U-shape.

The blade has two facing portions spaced at a distanceslightly greater than the diameter of the ball to be played with.

The forward facing portion of the blade is provided with a cut-out part along its lower edge so as to let the ball escape through that forward portion when the blade is tilted rearwardly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a hockey type blade according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3, 3a, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9.and 12 are front elevation views of various embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 6, l and 11 are top views of other embodiments of blades according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a basic embodiment of the hockey type blade according to the invention. This blade is integrally molded with the stump 12 of a stick adapted to receive a hockey handle. The blade IQ is made of a flat piece of stiff material, such as wood, plastic or the like which is bent at an angle of 180 about a vertical axis so that both end portions and 16 face each other to make a horizontal U-shape and adapted to stand on its side edges. The rear end portion 14 of the blade 10 and the front end portion 11S are connected to each other by a semi-circular portion 18 whose radius is slightly larger than the radius of the ball 20 (see FIG. 2) used for the game.

The forward portion 16 is provided with a cut-out part 22 along the lower edge thereof. The cut-out part 22 has a height approximately equalto and preferably slightly smaller than the radius of the ball 20"and a 2 width substantially greater than the diameter of the same ball.

The height of the blade 10 is approximately equal to and preferably greater than the diameter of the ball 20.

The stump 12 is provided with a prismatic cavity 11 for receiving a common hockey handle therein. It is obvious that the new type of blade could be formed integrally with the complete handle.

The game played with this new type of blade is sub stantially similar to the ordinary hockey game, but some rules 'may be modified to suit the speed of the game and the fact that a rolling and slightly bouncing ball is used instead of a hard sliding puck.

The two essential purposes of the new blade are to control and shoot the ball. The control is sufficiently assured by the three walls l4, l6 and 18 particularly if the ball is pulled mainly by the wall 18 in the general direction of the stump 12. As for the shooting of the ball 20, it is made possible or at least facilitated by the cut-out part 22. It will be sufficient for the player to tilt the blade 10 backward so as to raise the upper edge of the cut-out part 22 to a height exceeding the diameter of the ball 20. The ball can then be shot by forward surface of the rearward wall 14. The width of the cut-out out part may vary as it will be explained thereafter.

FIG. 3 is a front plan view of the basic embodiment of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 1 but without the cut-out part 22 in the front end portionor wall 16. The front wall 15 shown in FIG. 3 is substantially rectangular with no part removed. It is a type particularly appreciated for cleanly stopping the ball. However, for shooting the ball, it has a drawback considering that, for shooting the ball forwardly, theblade must be tilted back considerably more than with the types having a front cut-out part. The disadvantage of this blade also exists when the ball must be stopped and picked up inside the hooked blade. The player has the general tendency to raise instead of tilting the hockey and somtimes misses the ball.

FIG. 3a illustrates a type of blade with a rear wall 24 substantially higher than the front wall 26. This type of blade is particularly appreciated for blocking the ball because it offers more stopping surface. If the rules of the game foresee a goal tender, the blade such as shown in FIG. 3a or even a larger one is preferred.

' In some cases, and in particular, when the players use a ball on has a substantial resiliency, a cover 28, a screeen 30 or a net 3.2 is preferably used over the upper edge of the blade. A s'illustrated in FIG. 4, the cover or dome 28 has an opening 29 therethrough, so as to enable the player to see the ball which is located inside the blade. An opening such as 29 offers a too restricted view and for this reason, the cover 28 is preferably made of transparent material. The sight is also not obstruced when a rigid screening 30 (FIG. 5) or a flexible net is used to cover the enclosure of the blade.

The control of the ball is increased if the enclosure of the blade surrounds the ball completely, or at least leaves no exit sufficiently wide to let the ball escape by the side. In FIG. 7, the forward edgeof the front wall 36 extends backwardly in a curve 38, to meet the rear wall of the blade. The blad3 shown in FIG. 8 is substantially similar to the one of FIG. 7, except that it is provided with a vertical slot 40 through its front wall.

Some player may find it difficult to shoot the ball when the latter is located inside the curve 18 as shown in FIG. 2. For this reason, the cut-out part 41 may be extended completely toward the bottom of the curve 42 (FIG. 9).

As for the contour of the enclosure, a large variety may be contemplated. Two additional examples are illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11.

Additional control of the ball may be needed for stopping, shooting or dislodging the ball from tight spots. It has been found that a plate 43, as shown in FIG. 12, rigidly secured to the rear wall 44 of the blade and in the same plane thereof, increases the variety of the play of the game. The plate 43 is substantially square, with a height generally equal to the height of the blade 44.

Although this blade may be made of bent wood, molded plastic is usually preferred. The blade, according to the invention, has been described with a partly hollow stump but it is within the embodiment of this invention to mold it integrally with a complete handle similar to a hockey stick.

What I claim is:

1. A hockey type blade adapted to be played with a ball, the said blade being characterized by a strip of stiff material forming a horizontally disposed U-shaped enclosure, the said enclosure having a front and a rear vertical flat portions facing each other at a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the ball to be played with and integrally connected to each other by a substantially cylindrical portion having a radius substantially corresponding to the radius of the ball, the said front portion of the blade being provided with a cut-out part located at about the median line of the length of the said front portion and mortising through the lower edge of the said front portion, the said cutout part having a height smaller than the diameter of the said ball, whereby the said cut-out part facilitates the forward projection of the ball when the blade is tipped backwardly.

2. A blade as recited in claim 1, wherein the said cutout part is generally arch-shaped, widening downwardly to a width greater than the diameter of the said ball so as to permit the ball to be projected forwardly at different angles.

3. A blade as recited in claim 1, wherein the height of the cut-out part corresponds approximately to the radius of the ball.

4. In combination, a hockey stick handle and a hockey type blade as recited in claim 1, the said handle and blade being rigidly secured to each other, wherein the said rear portion of the blade is located in approximately the same plane as the handle.

5. A blade as recited in claim 1, the said blade being made of plastic and integrally molded with a partly hollowed stump handle upwardly inclined from the said rear portion of the blade. 

1. A hockey type blade adapted to be played with a ball, the said blade being characterized by a strip of stiff material forming a horizontally disposed U-shaped enclosure, the said enclosure having a front and a rear vertical flat portions facing each other at a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the ball to be played with and integrally connected to each other by a substantially cylindrical portion having a radius substantially corresponding to the radius of the ball, the said front portion of the blade being provided with a cut-out part located at about the median line of the length of the said front portion and mortising through the lower edge of the said front portion, the said cut-out part having a height smaller than the diameter of the said ball, whereby the said cut-out part facilitates the forward projection of the ball when the blade is tipped backwardly.
 2. A blade as recited in claim 1, wherein the said cut-out part is generally arch-shaped, widening downwardly to a width greater than the diameter of the said ball so as to permit the ball to be projected forwardly at different angles.
 3. A blade as recited in claim 1, wherein the height of the cut-out part corresponds approximately to the radius of the ball.
 4. In combination, a hockey stick handle and a hockey type blade as recited in claim 1, the said handle and blade being rigidly secured to each other, wherein the said rear portion of the blade is located in approximately the same plane as the handle.
 5. A blade as recited in claim 1, the said blade being made of plastic and integrally molded with a partly hollowed stump handle upwardly inclined from the said rear portion of the blade. 